Mexico!

As promised earlier this month, I am finally posting a few pictures from our trip to Mexico.

The day after Christmas we flew to LA with my sister and her husband. We had to leave home at 5:00am which was pretty tough the day after Christmas, but totally worth it. We were able to board the cruise ship at about noon so we waited and read in the hospitality room at the Sheraton LA for the ship to be ready. When we got on the ship we were tired and hungry so we went looking for food (which there is always plenty of on a cruise) and then we napped. The ship left port at about 5:00 pm. We were at sea for 2 days- we read, explored, played games, swam, and went to movies and shows.

On Tuesday morning we arrived in Puerto Vallarta. This was my second favorite port. We shopped a bit before heading out on a smaller boat for whale watching, snorkeling, and swimming with a sea lion! We got back to the ship just in time to pull back out to sea.

Wednesday we were in Mazatlan. Again we boarded a smaller (much more rickety) boat for a tour of the port and then to a private beach for body surfing and horseback riding.

Thursday we were in Cabo San Lucas. I think this was my favorite port, the water was clearer and the city was cleaner. We again went whale watching and snorkeling. The snorkeling here was great! We were literally swimming with the fishes:) After snorkeling we did a little shopping and then back to the ship. That night was New Year's Eve. They had a party and a balloon/confetti drop at midnight. A lot of the people were there for the free champage, so we didn't stay out there much past 12:05 am.

Friday we were at sea heading back to LA. It was nice to have a day with nothing we had to do but relax.

We reached LA Saturday morning at 8:00 am and had to be off the ship shortly thereafter. We took the shuttle to the airport and spent the rest of the day (until about 4:00 pm) reading and walking laps around the terminal. It was a long day and we were super glad to get home.

My parents were great! They kept all 4 of our kids for the whole week, and the kids had a blast. It was hard not to see or talk to them for a whole week, but we knew they were in good hands. All in all it was a very fun (once in a great, great while) trip.

1 down, lots more to go!

DD1 lost her very first tooth last night! It has actually been loose for about 2 months and was bearly hanging on! Her permanent teeth are growing in behind her baby ones so we really needed to pull it out. I happened to be at the dentist yesterday, and the hygenist said that she would give me some topical anestetic to put on DD1's gums. I came home and my hubby convinced her that it was time to pull the tooth. We put the anestetic on it and then wrapped a piece of dental floss around her tooth. The problem was that the floss kept slipping off, and I'm pretty sure that by the time we finally got the tooth out the numbness had worn off, but she was fine. It was pretty exciting...oldest child, first tooth, etc. The only sad part was that the tooth fairy forgot to come last night! I think she was very busy and just didn't make it to our house, but no worries, I am pretty sure she made it tonight:)

Party Girl

We celebrated DD1's birthday yesterday. We started out the morning with a birthday party. It was our first "friend" party and it went pretty well. She invited all the girls in her kindergarten class (8) and 6 girls came so it was just the right size. We decorated the living room with pink hearts and balloons. The theme of the party was 'princess' so the girls made pink foam crowns and jewel necklaces. Then we played 'kiss the frog' and 'don't eat pete'. After cake and ice cream and presents, we finished it off with painting fingernails. The whole party was 90 minutes so it was pretty quick and painless.
Later that night my sister and her family came over to celebrate with us. DD1 blew the candles out again and opened her presents from the family. The hit of the evening had to be...ZhuZhu Pets! She really wanted them for Christmas but they were impossible to get so we planned to get them for her birthday. It was a group effort because my friend in SL picked up the hamsters for us, my sister bought the tunnels in Logan, and I ordered the main playset online. They are cute but kinda a pain to put together.

I think that she had a fun birthday and I'm glad it only comes once a year! HB kiddo!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to my sweet girl. I can't believe that she is 6! I tried to talk her into skipping her birthday this year, but she has been counting down the days. She is a true joy to our family, a great sister, and very silly. We love her so much! We had a fun birthday party this morning with her friends and we are having a little party tonight with my sister and her family. I'll post pictures of the festivities tomorrow!

Resolutions and catch up

Among my New Year's Resolutions this year is to be a better blogger. Not only for all of you 'faithful followers' but for our own family journal. I decided to start with a reasonable goal so I plan to blog once a week. (Feel free to send me hate mail if I fail to keep up with my goal.) My girls are at such fun ages where they do and say hilarious things so hopefully that will give me plenty of material! Let's see...Halloween was fun, Thanksgiving was great too, and that brings us to Christmas.
We got the girls their own little tree to decorate for Christmas. They had a blast decorating it and it left our big tree for me to decorate- I am kinda a control freak that way.
(I like how it looks like our dog is laughing in this picture:)Every year we take a few pictures of the girls in their Chrismas dresses in front of the Christmas tree. They turned out very cute this year. It doesn't hurt that both kids love to pose for the camera!
Both of the girls got scooters for Christmas this year. DD1 really wanted one, and little sister wants to be just like her big sister, so that's what they asked Santa to bring. Other favorite gifts for DD1 were a boom box complete with cds, and a leapster from Grandma. DD2 was happy for her Littlest Pet Shop house and a new Webkinz pet. BBVD (my hubby) and I decided to keep it simple this year since we headed off for a trip the day after Christmas!
(Pictures from the trip are coming up in the next post)